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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF
OPERATIONS
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FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a “safe harbor” to encourage companies to provide
prospective information, so long as those informational statements are identified as forward-looking and are accompanied
by meaningful cautionary statements identifying important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from
those included in the forward-looking statements. We desire to take advantage of these provisions. This report contains
cautionary statements identifying important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected
herein, and in any other statements made by Company officials in communications with the financial community and
contained in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Forward-looking statements are not
based on historical information and relate to future operations, strategies, financial results or other developments.
Furthermore, forward-looking information is subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties. In particular,
statements containing words such as “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “goal,” “objective,” “may,” “should,” “estimate,”
“intends,” “projects,” “will,” “assumes,” “potential,” “target”, "outlook" or similar words as well as specific projections of
future results, generally qualify as forward-looking. Aflac undertakes no obligation to update such forward-looking
statements.
We caution readers that the following factors, in addition to other factors mentioned from time to time, could cause
actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements:
• difficult conditions in global capital markets and the economy
• exposure to significant interest rate risk
• concentration of business in Japan
• foreign currency fluctuations in the yen/dollar exchange rate
• failure to execute or implement the conversion of the Japan branch conversion to a legal subsidiary
• limited availability of acceptable yen-denominated investments
• deviations in actual experience from pricing and reserving assumptions
• ability to continue to develop and implement improvements in information technology systems
• governmental actions for the purpose of stabilizing the financial markets
• interruption in telecommunication, information technology and other operational systems, or a failure to maintain
the security, confidentiality or privacy of sensitive data residing on such systems
• ongoing changes in our industry
• failure to comply with restrictions on patient privacy and information security
• extensive regulation and changes in law or regulation by governmental authorities
• defaults and credit downgrades of investments
• ability to attract and retain qualified sales associates and employees
• decline in creditworthiness of other financial institutions
• subsidiaries' ability to pay dividends to Aflac Incorporated
• decreases in our financial strength or debt ratings
• inherent limitations to risk management policies and procedures
• concentration of our investments in any particular single-issuer or sector
• differing judgments applied to investment valuations
• ability to effectively manage key executive succession
• significant valuation judgments in determination of amount of impairments taken on our investments
• catastrophic events including, but not necessarily limited to, epidemics, pandemics, tornadoes, hurricanes,
earthquakes, tsunamis, acts of terrorism and damage incidental to such events
• changes in U.S. and/or Japanese accounting standards
• loss of consumer trust resulting from events external to our operations
• increased expenses and reduced profitability resulting from changes in assumptions for pension and other
postretirement benefit plans
• level and outcome of litigation
• failure of internal controls or corporate governance policies and procedures